Restrictive form of Acute Respiratory Failure is connected with heavy and acute violation of a pulmonary tissue compliance, atelectasis, blockage of alveocapillary membranes. Etiological causes of Restrictive Acute Respiratory Failure are following:

• polysegmental pneumonia, fibrous processes at lungs, non-obturative atelectasis
• respiratory distress-syndrome of adults, Mendelson's syndrome
• cardiogenic and non-cardiogenic lungs hypostasis
• some life-threatening complication of pregnancy (pre-eclampsia, eclampsia, etc.)

The mechanism of Restrictive Acute Respiratory Failure is based on several pathology processes: inflammation of pulmonary tissue, an alveolar collapse due to surfactant insufficiency, interstitial hypostasis. The collapse of alveoli leads to development of plural atelectasis, hereupon ventilation-perfusion coefficient drops (V_A/Q <0,8). The bridging of non-oxygenated blood from right to left — is the most typical syndrome of Restrictive Acute Respiratory Failure. It invokes rapidly progressing hypoxemia, steady to O₂. Most hard form of Restrictive Acute Respiratory Failure proceeds at Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

Besides one important feature of Restrictive Acute Respiratory Failure is the expressed augmentation of breath working on overcoming of a high elastic resistance of "rigid" lungs. At a certain stage of pathological process lungs do not cope with a high load, followed by decompensation with life-threatening hypoxia.